Set up your Shopify store with uShop

uShop has paved the way for South Africans to set up and run online shops with one of the most popular eCommerce solutions in the world: Shopify. PayFast is proud to be the first (and only) South African payment gateway with Shopify integration.

Shopify is a really amazing platform which allows people ranging from small business owners to multinational corporations to sell online (the Foo Fighters, General Electric, Angry Birds and GitHub to name a few). You can easily add and organise your products, services or digital downloads, customise your store with one of hundreds of templates (or develop your very own look-and-feel) and professionally handle all aspects related to online trade. Add (or buy) the domain name for your store and you’re ready to sell. PayFast will make sure that your customers can pay you quickly, easily and in a variety of ways.

Here is a little video put out by them a few weeks ago:

Local integration

Shopping platforms like Shopify – as amazing as they can be – often misses effective ways of integrating properly in foreign markets like the one we have in South Africa. Buyers require globally relevant ideas that are applied locally: local payment methods, local advertising assistance, and local delivery/courier companies. Enter uShop.co.za.

uShop.co.za’s partnership with Shopify adds a lot of extra value to South African sellers (and buyers), for one, they paved the way for sellers to accept payment in SA rand through PayFast. They also provide local sellers with tools to get sites listed on local marketplaces (such as bidorbuy.co.za – Africa’s largest marketplace) and integrate with local delivery companies to help you fulfill your orders to your customers. Paying customers get free (localised) apps and even a free custom .co.za domain.

Get started with Shopify

You can create a free online store for 30 days to see if Shopify is the right kind of solution for you. There are no contracts: you simply choose one of their pricing plans and take it month-by-month. You will need to register and verify your (free) PayFast account to accept credit card, Instant EFT and other payments from your (local and international) customers. The money gets paid into your South African bank account whenever you request a payout. It couldn’t be simpler.

We’re very happy about the news — yet another “first in South Africa” — and to allow our customers to sell and get paid in as many ways as possible. Connect with us through the social links in the sidebar to hear first about more exciting developments as they happen or leave your thoughts on this article below.